Slack or cuttings removing device



y 1943. w. T. M CULLOUGH SLACK OR CUTTINGS REMOVING DEVICE Filed Dec. 6, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ff m A'f'rbRNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 6 1941 Patented May 25, 1943 SLACK'OR CUTTINGS REMOVING DEVICE William T. McCullough, Chicago, 111., assignor to Goodman 'Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application December 6, 1941, Serial No. 421,879

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in slack or cut-tings removing devices for Keri-cutting machines of the room and. pillar type,-and has for its principal object to provide a relatively light, compact, screw c-onveyer, capable of use with a Keri-cutting machine of conventional construction and driven by power from the latter so as to remove the cuttings mechanically from the rear of the machine.

In carrying out my invention I provide an attachment including a power driven screw orhelical conveyer wh-ichis attached to the rear-end of a Keri-cutting machine in position to receive the cuttings as they are brought "rearwardly by the cutter chain at the rear end of the machine and discharge thern'at a distance from one side of the latter. I also provide an adjustable discharge tube for said conveyor, arranged so that the cuttings can be discharged at a rearwardly, forwardly, or upwardly inclined angle and at a distance from the machine soas to clear the cuttings mechanically ,from the path of the machine, as desired, or to discharge the cuttings directly into another conveyer for removal to another part of the mine.

Although designed primarily as an attach ment for a conventional Keri-cutting machine,

. my improved formof screw conveyer is so compactly arranged that under ordinary conditions a major portion thereof can be permanently mounted on the kerf-cutting machine, and only certain portions 'of the device are temporarily displaced or removed while the mining machine isloaded on its truck 'for transportation in the usual manner.

My invention may best be understood by referenceto the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Figure 1 is a'plan view showing a kerf-putting machine operating along amine face, with a slack removing device constructedin accordance with my invention attached to the machine, and showing said device in part horizontal section;

Figure 2 is a'fragmentary plan Vlewof the rear end of the mining machine with parts broken away to show details of the drive mecha nism and of the slack'removing device and its connections with the power elements ofthe mining machine;

Figure 3 is a rearview of the machine on an enlarged scale but with the major part of the slack removing device shown in transverse section, and with the discharge spout in a different position of adjustment than shownin Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a detailed section (taken .on line 44 of Figure 2, and indicating in dotted lines the associated parts of a mining machine truck when the ruining machine is mounted in transporting position thereon;

Figure 5 is a detail section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a detail section taken on line 66 of Figure 3.

Referring now to details of the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawings, the slack removing device is shown as applied to Keri-cutting machine ID of well known construction and operation comprising a main frame H having a chain-carrying cutter bar [2 projecting forwardly from the main frame. As usual, the cutter chain 13 operates in a channel defined by side plates 13a, [3b and a base plate l4, said channel normally opening to the rear end of the machine below the main frame. The cutter chain is-driven from a chain sprocket (see Figure 4) operatively connected with a motor l6 disposed at the front of the frame. A flexible feeding means may also be provided as usual, comprising a pair of winding drums ii, i! at opposite sides of the machine, suitably driven from the motor lt and adapted to have flexible cables wound thereon and arranged to be anchored as usual at suitable points adjacent the working face, to feed the cutter bar to the coal.

Keri-cutting machines of the character herein described are usually transported from place to place on a wheeled truck, having a platform !8 as indicated in dottedlinesin Figure 4. Other detailsof the truck need not be shown herein, as it forms no essential part of the present invention, excepting to point out a tongue 19 forming a usual part of the propelling gear of said truck and arranged to be detachably connected with a coupling member Zilat the rear end of the mining machine. As shown herein, the coupling member 20 is fixed on a longitudinal shaft 2! driven from the motor to through suitable gearing. Said coupling member consists of a hub 22 having enlarged socket 23 rotatably mounted in an annular opening 2 3 formed in a bearing plate 25 mounted in a gear casing 25 at the rear end of the main frame H. The shaft 2i may also drive the cutter chain sprocket l5 of the mining machine through a bevel pinion 2?, bevel gear 28 and hub 29, and a sliding ciutchmember 30 on said hub having selective engagement with clutch ring 3| on sprocket shaft 32.

It will be understood that in the usual opera tion of a Keri-cutting machine of the kind i1lustratedherein, it is loaded upon the platform l8 of the wheeled truck, with the tongue IQ of said truck engaged in the coupling member of the mining machine, so that the truck is propelled by power of the mining machine motor Hi. When the machine is to be used for cutting coal, however, it is entirely withdrawn from the truck, and is moved over the mine floor on its own bottom by means of its flexible draft cables. Thus, the slack removing device is operated only when the machine is removed from the truck, and is in cutting position on the mine floor. Accordingly, the coupling member 20 can be used alternately as a power take-off for propelling the mining machine truck and for driving the slack removing device, as will presently appear.

Referring now more particularly to details of the slack removing device which forms the subject matter of the present invention, said device consists of a tubular casing'35 having a screw con veyer member rotatably mounted therein, and arranged horizontally immediately above the base plate I4 across the rear end of the cuttings channel. The tubular casing 35 has an elongated cuttings-receiving aperture 3? on its inner side opposite and immediately adjacent the cutter chain sprocket 15 so that the cuttings brought rearwardly by the cutter chain will be directed into the aperture 31 as said cutter chain swings around said sprocket.

To assist in directing cuttings into the conveyer I provide an upright baffle plate 33 disposed at an intermediate angle between the left-hand wall I3a of the cuttings discharge passage beneath the machine and the left-hand margin of the cuttings receiving aperture 3'! in the conveyer casing 35, as seen in Figure 1 of the drawings. I also provide an upright baffle plate 34 projecting from the right-hand side of the cuttings aperture 31 inwardly at an angle towards the cutter chain sprocket l5. A flexible extension 35a may also be mounted on the latter baffle plate, consisting of a strip of rubberized fabric or the like.

In the form shown herein, the tubular casing 35 may be detachably connected to the mining machine by a flange 33 projecting forwardly from the lower margin of the cuttings aperture 31 and having a plurality of holes 39, 39 for engagement with pins 40, 40 set in the rear edge of the bottom plate M, and by a second flange 42 projecting upwardly from the upper margin of said cuttings aperture having bolts 43 passing through a flanged plate 44 projecting rearwardly from the main frame H above the cuttings discharge passage, as shown in Figure 4. With this arrangement the tubular casing may be attached to the machine by initially placing the holes 39, 39 in registering position over the pins 45, 45, and then securing the bolts 43, 43 in place.

In the preferred form shown, a section 45 of the casing opposite and above the cuttings aperture 3'! is connected to hinges 45 to swing rearwardly so as to afford access to the interior of said casing for removal of obstructions which may interfere with proper operation of the screw conveyer.

The blade of the screw 36 is fixed on a tubular shaft 48, which has a solid drive shaft 59 projecting into one end thereof. The shaft 49 is journaled in spaced apart anti-friction bearing memhere 55, 5! mounted in a housing 52 which is attached to and closes one end of the tubular casing 35, as is best seen in Figure 3. The opposite, or discharge, end of the screw 35 floats freely in the casing 35 excepting for such bearing as may be provided by the edges of the screwblades.

A gear 53 is mounted on the extreme end of shaft 49 beyond the end of casing 52, and is meshed with a gear 54 loosely mounted on a shaft 55 above and parallel with the tubular casing 35. Shaft 55 has bearing at its outer end in a yoke 56 and at its inner end in bearing members 5'! and 51a depending from a gear support 58.

The gearsupport 58 has a T-shaped drive tongue 59 projecting from its front face, which has driving connection with shaft 55 through bevel gears 50, BI, shaft 62, and bevel gears 63, 64, all mounted on said gear support. The drive tongue 59 is movable into and out of engagement with the socket 23 of coupling member 20 on the mining machine by bodily pivotal swinging movement of the gear support 58 about the axis of shaft 55. To provide such pivotal movement, the depending bearing member 5! carried by said gear support is rotatably mounted in an upstanding bracket 65 mounted on top of the conveyer casing 35. The gear support is locked in coupled position as shown in full lines in Figure 3 by a removable pin 66 passing through two pairs of registering eyes 15, '16 formed on the rear end of the machine gear housing 26 and the front of said gear support, respectively. When the mining machine is mounted on its truck for transportation, however, the pin 55 is removed and the gear support can then be swung rearwardly and downwardly into position shown in dotted lines in Figure 4, so as to permit the truck drive tongue [9 to be inserted into the coupling member 25 for driving the truck in the usual manner.

To prevent injury to the screw conveyer from clogging or overload when in operation, an overload clutch 61 of any well known type is feathered on shaft 55 and normally urged into engagement with gear 54 by a spring 68.

The outlet end of the conveyer casing 35 is provided with a discharge tube 1!), herein consisting of an elbow ll rotatably and detachably mounted on the end of said casing, and having an extension tube 12 secured thereto and are ranged at an angle to the axis of said conveyer casing, The elbow is telescopically mounted on the end of said casing 35, and has a bolt 13 removably inserted therethrough which extends into an annular groove 14 formed around the end of said casing so as to permit the desired rotational adjustment of the discharge tube at varying positions toward the side of the machine while the conveyer is in operation. Thus, said discharge tube can either be disposed horizontally at an angle toward the front or rear of the machine, or at any intermediate elevated angle, as desired. For instance, Figures 1 and 2 show it disposed at a rearward angle, and Figure 3 shows it at an elevated angle. This arrangement permits the cuttings to be distributed over a relatively wide area removed from the path of movement of the machine while cutting. If desired, the extension tube 12 may also be arranged at an inclined angle to discharge directly into an auxiliary conveyer, so as to carry the cuttings to a more remote point in the mine,

When the mining machine is loaded on its truck, the discharge tube 10 can be bodily disengaged from the casing 35 by removing the bolt 13 and sliding said tube laterally off the end of said casing.

The use and operation of the slack removing device above described is as follows: The device is attached to the mining machine at the rear end of the cuttings passageway and immediately adjacent the cutter chain sprocket so that the cuttings brought back by the cutter chain will be directed into the opening 31 of the screw conveyer casing and be discharged from the discharge tube under positive action of the screw 36. It will be understood that in normal operation the cuttings accumulate in the cutter chain passageway beneath the main frame so as to fill said passageway and are forced by the operation of the cutter chain into the receiving aperture 31 of the screw conveyer, so as to insure a continuous positive feeding of cuttings into and through said screw conveyer.

The arrangement whereby the discharge tube 'f'ilcan be adjusted at varying angles to the machine permits the cuttings to be distributed over a relatively wide area and piled at a considerable height from the ground, which is particularly advantageous with cutting machines of modern design and capacity wherein the volume of cuttings continuously brought back by the cutter chain is usually much too great to be cleared satisfactorily by the usual hand shoveling operations.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which my invention may be embodied, it will be understood that the construction thereof and the arrangement of the various parts may be altered without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Furthermore, I do not wish to be construed as limiting my invention to the specific embodiment illustrated, excepting as it may be limited in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a kerf-cutting machine including a frame having a cuttings passage therethrough, a motor on said frame having a power coup1ing member adapted for detachable driving connection with a mining machine truck, a cutter bar having a cutter chain in said outtings passage driven by said motor and adapted to carry the cuttings to the rear end of said cuttings passage, a screw conveyer disposed horizontally at the rear end of said cuttings passage with an opening in one side thereof in cuttingsreceiving relation with the latter, and means detachably engageable with said power coupling member for driving said screw conveyer, and t selectively movable out of engagement with the latter to permit driving connection of said motor with the mining machine truck.

2. A cuttings removing device adapted for connection with a kerf-cutting machine, comprising a screw conveyer adapted for horizontal arrangement at the rear end of said kerf-cutting machine and having an inlet opening at one side thereof for receiving cuttings from said machine and discharging them to one side of said machine, said screw conveyer having a discharge tube rotatably mounted at the outlet end thereof and at an angle thereto, so as to permit distribution of the cuttings over a relatively wide area.

3. A cuttings removing device adapted for connection with a kerf-cutting machine, comprising a screw conveyer adapted for horizontal arrangement at the rear end of said Keri-cutting machine and having an inlet opening at one side thereof for receiving cuttings from said machine and discharging them to one side of said machine, said screw conveyer having a discharge tube rotatably mounted at the outlet end thereof and at an angle thereto, so as to permit distribution of the cuttings over a relatively wide area, and means affording bodily detachment of said discharge tube from said screw conveyer to facilitate loading the kerf-cutting machine on a transport truck.

4. A cuttings removing device adapted for connection with a kerf-cutting machine, comprising a tubular casing having an inlet opening at one side adapted to be arranged in cuttings-receiving relation at the rear end of said kerf-cutting machine so as to receive cuttings from the latter and discharge them toward one side of said machine, a rotatable screw in said tubular casing, drive means for said screw including a rotatable coupling member adapted for detachable driving connection with a power driven coupling member on the kerf-cutting machine, and means permitting movement of said coupling member into and out of driving connection with said power driven coupling member independently of said tubular casing.

5. A cuttings removing device adapted for connection with a kerf-cutting machine, comprising a tubular casing having an inlet opening at its inner side adapted to be arranged in cuttingsreceiving relation at the rear end of said kerfcutting machine and to discharge said cuttings toward one side of said machine, a power-operated screw in said tubular casing, said casing also having a detachable wall section on its outer side opposite said cuttings inlet opening to permit access to the interior of said tubular casing from the rear of said kerf-cutting machine.

WILLIAM T. MCCULLOUGH. 

